Customer Reviews

Sony DSCP72 Cyber-shot 3.2MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

Usually the best reviews come from those indivduals that just bought something and haven't found the bad news, or are unwilling to accept that they made a bad decision. I had read the reviews on almost every 3-5MP digital cam on Amazon.com, and had several in the final running for my actual purchase. This camera won the contest because of its high quality user interface, low light performance, and most of all its video mode capabilities. Its the only camera I've seen that does a reasonably high quality video mode, with no time limits other than what your storage capability is. Also the resolution of the video mode, and the fact that its in a very compatible format sealed the deal for me. This camera is very intelligent when using the "auto" settings, and could definitely help anyone take better pictures. For those like me, most of the features are manually controlable as well, in addition to saving manual settings to your own program. One thing that didn't get mentioned in previous information about this camera is that it saves the settings information as part of each picture, so that you can go back later and compare which settings are working best for you and your picture taking styles. I already recorded several movies and was astounded at the audio/video quality that I was presented with, I was able to connect it directly to the T.V. and the frame-rates and resolution were just fine for home-movie quality recording. If you get tired of only having a camera, or only having a camcorder, and never both. You have to take a look at this thing. Also, this camera comes with 4 effects like Sepia, Black and White, Solarize, and Negative. I was very pleased to find out that these effects can be used in BOTH the camera mode and video mode. I was also amazed to see that in video mode that the zoom is available for use, and that the camera utilizes an auto-focus, much like your average camcorder. For what I do, I did not need 5 megapixel. I mostly print images smaller than 8x10, and much of my work ends up on my websites. So I wanted to trade extra megapixels for features. This was absolutely the right choice for me. Also, the camera came with 2 nickel metal hydride AA batteries as well as a charger, USB cable, and television intervace RCA cables. That is a lot of toys for the over-all price. This camera has also gotten great marks for battery performance, and I wasn't able to kill them after playing all afternoon and evening on about half of a full charge. I ended up having to put it on never-ending slide show mode to drain the batteries all the way down. It took over 4 hours even then.

I have always put off getting a digital camera because I did not have much faith in the current "at home" printing technology. But I changed my mind when I discovered I can have digital pictures printed profesionally. I bought the Sony DSC-P72 in August this year and have not regretted my decision. This is my first digital camera. I like that it takes clear and crisp pictures. It's flash and AF illuminator are powerful. Allows some manual control over the settings to give help me get better pictures. Menus are very user-friendly. It took me only less than 2 hours to figure them out. I also like the rechargeable batteries that came with it. But if you're planning to go on trips better have an extra pair or two ready. It also takes normal AA batteries. Only two things I didn't like, the measly 16MB memory stick and the "slow" battery charger. Get a 256MB memory stick and you're on your way to taking tons of pictures and a (fast) travel charger. For those who are complaining that the camera cannot take multiple shots in quick succession, read the camera's instruction manual again. You can either shoot in clip motion, multi-burst mode, or burst mode. However, the picture quality will suffer if you use one of these modes. Better shoot with a film camera since we all know that as of now, film cameras are still faster than digital. Overall, I like this camera and I'm glad that I got this one as my first.

Pro's
1. Has all the desirable features like video out, only 2 AA batteries, decent movies w/sound etc.
2. Nice build quality, the battery compartment door is the best I have seen so far.
3. Bundled rechargeable batteries and 4hr world charger are excellent.
4. Smart Zoom is useful feature and works much better than digital zoom on other cameras.
5. Fast shooting time (with option to take a burst of 2 pics), if you turn flash off.
6. The lens retracts itself when you are in view mode for a while, very sensible feature to protect the lens.
7. Very good battery life inspite of bright LCD.

Con's
1. Not really pocketable, thick/bulky/long. Included errata says the correct thickness is 37mm. Sony P8 or Nikon 2100/3100 or Canon S200 are smaller in size.
2. Only a superfine 1.5MB size available in auto mode for 3MP images.
3. Proprietary MS/MS Pro is 2 to 5 times cost of CF cards. And still can't be used even in many Sony devices which need MS MagicGate or MS Duo version.
4. White balance and colors for indoor/flash pics are bad.
5. Very less control over what camera will shoot. No action mode for fast shutter. Most flash or low light pics are blurry because camera chooses 1/40 sec or slower shutter speed.
6. Lens is noisy and a bit slow to startup/zoom/shutdown.
7. Colors are very saturated and many pictures are not crisp.

If lens was brighter and took low light/flash pictures better it would have been a superb camera. Every digital camera has its limitations, choose the one you like the best and enjoy!

I bought the camera 2 months ago, never failled. It takes very good pictures, good quality, EXEPT at night
CONS:
1 the shots come up blury and with a low definition. I actually couldn't recognize myself in a picture that was taken at night.
2 The memory stick that is included doesn't have much storage room (about 10 pics in 3.2 mp)
3 Zoom is not that great.
4 In pictures taken with flash, takes to long to reactivate for use again. AND the long time between the pressing of the botton and the actual picture being took makes the "moment" you want to preserve not possible.
5 I don't like the software that's included, but is user friendly and VERY easy to use

PROS:
1 Very good quality pictures (with daylight)
2 Very easy to use
3 battery life is amazing
4 High conectivity PC (UBS) or TV (very easy to do so)

I would recomend to buy this camera if you are not professional, 3.2 is MORE than enough for the size of pictures you would need-

After searching for months and reading many reports I purchased the Sony DSC-P72. The camera was a snap to use for this first time digital owner. Menu is excellent, focus does a terrific job, and the download to my computer was instint. Picture quality after I enlarged to 12 by 14 was superb. Sony supplies you with ni-mh batteries and charger, plus can use regular AA batteries.With Optical zoom, 3.2 megapixels, charger the $329.00 was normal but with sony quality. Memory stick media is getting cheap too, I purchased 128 m for $40.00 and 256 is available. I don't need more functions or 4 or 5 meg after using this camera!
I also compared with our Canon A-70 to her Sony P-72 and I still love my A-70 though. Her P-72 was the same price and takes great shots as well. It just lacks manual aperature control and shutter control against the A70's ability to do so. However, the P-72 takes sweet shots too for the person who just wants the camera to do all of the work. Sony is top quality as well. But hey, this is a camera, not a camcorder! What are you waiting for? Get it now!

I bought this camerata yesterday on the strength of the other customer reviews here, but today it went back to the store. My picture files had lots of pixels, but mediocre contrast and only so-so sharpness. I have owned both a Fuji Finepix 2400 and 2800, and both of these cameras took much sharper pictures than this Sony. My guess is that the culprit in the Sony camera is the lens -- all the electronics seemed to work OK.

Update, May 17

Since writing the above I have purchased a Canon A70, which is comparable in size and price to this Sony...with the same number of megapixels.

The Canon gives the photographer a lot more potential control, including, if one wishes, the ability to set f stops and shutter speeds manually. Most important, the lens is much better than the Sony's, and my pictures are much sharper, with excellent definition and contrast. So in my opinion the Canon A70 is a much better value.

I recently bought this camera and I must say I'm really impressed, it takes great pictures (I was personally impressed and 3.2MP is more than enough for me) and besides the pics, you can take very long movies as well! But of course you would have to use a bigger capacity memory stick (cause as everyone says, the supplied 16mb MS is just not enough) and record your movies until the card fills up. And the beautiful thing is that you can edit (divide, cut, delete the parts you don't want) your movies on the spot, so you can still save some more space by getting rid of those unwanted moments in your videos and still keep the good ones. There are so many good specs to this camera, yes it's true that it doesn't have the most extensive manual control options, but it certainly has much more than you would expect from a "point and shoot" camera. I simply love it, and I'm so happy for the day that I waved goodbye to 35mm cameras and film processing costs. I'm more than happy to keep all my photos on my computer and just print those which are special. This baby is full of pros, but the only con as I mentioned before, is that the supplied memory stick is just a tactic to make you buy a bigger one. 16MB doesn't do it (unless you only take lo-res pictures and no movies!)
I also would like to add a comment to bpm003's review, about the LCD being off when the flash is charging. Despite what bpm003 thinks, this is definitely not a con, it is just the factory default "battery saving mode" which you can always change. This way it turns off the LCD to make the batteries last longer (also the camera activates the auto focus only when you half-press the shutter) whereas if you turn the battery saving option off, you can enjoy the instant playback of the images (by simply pressing the quick review button) and not worry about the LCD turning off, plus the camera focuses more quickly even when you don't press the shutter, so you can take quicker shots. Just wanted to make this clear.
The bottom line is anyhow, you'll like this camera very much if you're looking for a P&S camera. I simply love it!

I have the predecessor P71 version of this camera. I thought hard about buying the FUJI with the 6X zoom but am very glad to have bought the Sony instead. In comparison to my buddy's FUJI, it takes TERRIFIC PICTURES IN LOW LIGHT SITUATIONS. This is key- the picture doesn't black out at parties/indoor graduations/weddings, etc. As an experiment, I took several pictures of my girlfriend's dog in near-complete darkness. They turn out beautifully- the illumination feature for this camera's autofocus/rangefinder is very powerful. Very few cameras in this price range have this capability (I checked). Also- this camera has a TERRIFIC BUNDLE, making it a great value. I figure the charger itself is worth $.., and it uses standard-sized AA batteries. They are interchangeable with the rechargeables on your walkman, meaning that you're not stuck with buying $.. "battery paks" that don't fit anything else in your house. Only two minor quibbles: the camera automatically defaults to a "no flash"/energy saver mode every time it is turned on and off. This feature is irritating and you will probably miss some good shots because of it. Also, the shutter speed is slow. But this is true of all digital cameras. If you want a quality digital point and shoot for a great price, this is the camera. No doubt!

Can't say much that hasn't been said about the camera itself so I will mostly just mention a few tricks for dealing with some of the issues many people have brought up regarding this camera.

One note.. the video with sound capability is underated if anything. While it is deffinatly not a replacement for a cam corder, its portability makes it far more practical and less obtrusive for capturing 'moments'. With 256mb you have about 12 minutes of recording. Quality is around 15-22fps at 640x480
( think webcam ). Additionally if you drop it to the lower quality you have more than 2 hours of recording time. However, while the sound quality will be the same, the image will be pretty pixilated.

Many have complained about the slow shutter speed ( as in the time between pushing the button and the picture being taken ) but there is at least one way to get around it in certain circumstances. Provided you have enough light to forgoe the flash you can hold the button partially down and it will spot autofocus, then once it locks in it will immediately take the picture when you fully depress the button. Practice by trying to capture shots on the TV... sporting events are geat for this, especially when they do replays. It will give you a good feel for the timing of the camera.

It sounds tricky but the button sensitivity actually makes this very easy, To engage the spot autofocus you basically just need to rest your finger on the button, then actually pushing it requires a deffinate increase in effort. Additionally, using both single point AF and spot metering will make the process even faster. Not perfect but an improovement over the general performance if you are trying to catch fleeting moments.

In low light indoor shooting you can up the ISO to 400 and increase the exposure to attempt some flashless shots using this technique. Taking the time to steady the camera in some way will help immensely. If you think tripods are expensive try some of the table top versions, there is one at Bestbuy that goes for a whopping $11 and does a great job.

When the flash is being used I have yet to find a way around the delay completely, however if you turn off the red eye feature the amount of pre flash will be decreased which will lessen the delay. Red eye can be manipulated on the computer with a little effort.

I would never bother using the digital portion of the zoom. Just keep your image setting at the highest quality and you will have all of the same information anyway and more freedom in choosing how you want to crop the image later as there will be more image to work with. Even if you use lower quality to preserve memory I would suggest switching to the high quality to take any shots where you start zooming beyond the optical 3x max. Again you will have all the information you would have had using the 'smart' zoom and will have more options when editing later or even on the camera itself... the same goes for the solarize,bw, and sepia functions. All of those effects can be done later from the full color picture, full color pictures however can not be regenrated from pictures taken with these effects selected on the camera. A negative can be turned into a normal shot by filtering it using a negative image editing effect to get the negative of the negative.

This Camera is everything that we needed from a digital camera and more. We originally bought a Nikon, but that didn't record sound - we decided that being able to make soundless movies was pointless so swapped it for this Sony and are really pleased with it. It makes taking good photographs very simple and enjoyable. The various modes do make a difference to the quality of some pictures but the auto mode is perfect - all the photos we have taken have been excellent quality and we have printed many pictures as A4 size with no drop in the quality. Contrary to what we were told in the shops, the batteries last for ages - on a sightseeing weekend, the batteries lasted 2 full days and still have some charge left - we had the LCD screen on the whole time, used flash and zoom and took over 100 photographs and made several short movies. The best thing about the camera is that you can take as much movie footage WITH SOUND as your memory card will allow. The only thing that put me off buying this particular camera was the size and shape -others are slightly smaller, but this is easy to hold and light to carry as it uses ony 2 AA batteries, which are easy to replace.
This is our first digital Camera... great pictures and lots of fun - we would thoroughly recommend it to others!!